Holt advances to 1,500 finals

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Hillary Holt takes the lead in the final lap of the women's 1500-meter NAIA championship in Marion, Indiana. Photo courtesy The College of Idaho.

DES MOINES, Iowa – College of Idaho’s five-time NAIA National Champion Hillary Holt advanced to the 1,500-meter finals of the United States Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake University.

The junior, from Meridian, finished sixth in the second of two heats in today’s semifinals, clocking the second-fastest time in program history (4:14.89). She was the fourth of six athletes to earn a spot in Saturday’s final based on their time.

Holt sat in fourth place on the backstretch of the third lap, but was boxed in by two other runners – including Gabrielle Anderson of Team USA Minnesota and Nike’s Shannon Rowbury. Sitting in sixth-place heading into the final 100-meters, Holt held off Heather Wilson to earn a spot in the final.

The Coyote will be one of three collegiate runners in Saturday’s final, which will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network, with the race scheduled for 3:45 p.m. (MDT) She joins Amanda Mergaert of the University of Utah and Cory McGee of the University of Florida. Treniere Moser, who runs for Nike, had the fastest qualifying time at 4:11.20.